Matt Jones is an ADHD coach and founder of Humanifesto, a podcast and coaching platform that helps adults with ADHD - and the people around them - rediscover and live as their authentic selves. By age 14, he was a presenter on a primetime CBBC show, and played basketball for Wales. On the outside, he looked confident and accomplished. It took him another 30 years to actually feel that way.
"What if the things you've been told are your weaknesses, aren't weakness at all? I spent decades believing I was lazy, dramatic, and too much for everyone. Parents and teachers said I could do better. Friends moved on. I wore masks so well, I forgot my own face. For forty years, I lived a life designed by other people's rules. I learned to blend in, to shrink myself, to survive; until two conversations at age 38 and 40 changed everything, and I met myself for the first time. This talk is my story of unlearning shame, and reclaiming my identity, and why the real danger isn't failing, it's spending your life pretending to be someone you're not. A story of daring to live as the person you truly are...before the world told you who to be."
After the lecture, Matt will be joined by Jo Duckles and Jon Reid, for a panel discussion on the topic of living with ADHD.
Jo Duckles has 28 years’ experience in journalism and public relations. A News and Media Relations Officer at Oxford Brookes, she has previously worked in regional media, charities, and faith organisations. With an MA in Theology, Communications and the Media, she is a member of the worship leaders team at her local church, where she regularly preaches. Diagnosed with ADHD at 46, Jo shares lived experience to inspire positive change for neurodivergent people.
Jon Reid is Senior Lecturer in Child Development, SEND and Inclusion, leading the MA Education: SEND and teaching across UG/PG programmes. He supervises research to doctoral level, co-leads the Children and Young People Network, and convenes a Childhood Trauma SIG. Vice-Chair of the Institute of Recovery from Childhood Trauma and Director of its National Centre, his research focuses on education’s role in recovery, teacher wellbeing, emotional labour, and compassion in education.
